west's family reunion

One summer evening we headed up the canyon to meet up with The Man's family for dinner.

I love living where the mountains are.
Is there a place where you can have both mountains and ocean beaches with year round warm weather?
That would be my heaven.

We were told as we pulled into the campground where one of West's cousins had a spot, that there could only be eight people per spot.

At any given time.

As family continued to roll in we ended up pitching in to pay for another spot, even though none of us were staying past dinner.

Do you ever wish you were one of those people who are always photogenic?

with cousin Morgan

The plan was to potluck with Italian food.  The idea was conceived at Jammy's funeral.  The food was varied in variety and pretty tasty.

We brought hotdogs :).

The kids appreciated that.

Tayler took her hotdog roasting and marshmallow toasting business seriously.
It's written all over her face.

Brynn found this giant moth.
It was dead, but that didn't stop everyone from being fascinated with it.

Sweet little baby Elsa.
Sweet until West stopped to smile and say "hi" to her.
She started screaming and trying to get away from him.
I guess that's another reason to not have anymore babies :).

I think we needed to buy another site... or two...
luckily I think the camp hosts got tired of harassing us about it.

I feel I'm incredibly lucky to have married into such a fun family.
The support and the love the my kids and I have felt from them as we became West's family has been overwhelming.
Better people you'll never find.

in the summer heat of the desert

In the morning heat of the desert I ate my breakfast on a condo patio.
I could get used to this view.

I could get used to this view too.
He's a good looking man to be sure.

What's up with the velociraptors?

In the summer heat of the desert our family gathered.

In the summer heat of the desert we listened to our respective dads, or uncles, play their cowboy guitar songs. 
No one can play a cowboy ballad quite like they do.

Those grandpas are growing quite the following.

In the summer heat of the desert I got to see cousins I haven't seen in forever.

In the summer heat of the desert the kids tried to cool off in the splash park.
Some crazy forgetter mom forgot to put her kids in swim suits.  She was too distracted with buying a new car and still making it to the park on time.

The Circus didn't mind.  Cooling off in their clothes was just as effective.

In the summer heat of the desert The Man starting feeling a little bored.

To be very clear on this matter, when The Man starts to feel a little bored he'll hatch a plan to un-bored himself.
This plan usually involves me.

In the summer heat of the desert I ended up with a wet butt.

In the summer heat of the desert we cousins continued our play at the condo's pool.
I think it baffled my kids when I told them that every person in the pool on that afternoon was a cousin of theirs.

After the summer heat of the desert, we decided to join some the cousins at a buffet for dinner where I got to watch Cali and Tayler be this child as they wiggled outside while we adults continued on as adults do inside.

In the summer heat of the desert I got to reconnect with my family. 
And I can't wait to do it again next year.